The Theif's lament
by garnetfrog
Summary: As a young pony Silver was a homeless orphan. One day while begging for money a rich merchant blasted him with a fireball. Ever since then he has had to wear an eye patch. As an adult he has become a succesful buisness owner. He has opened several homeless shelters. If rich ponies don't donate he steals the money from them as "The one eyed thief" not very creative name XD .
1. Chapter 1 reocurring dream

_It was a dark and humid night. It had been raining that day so there were puddles on the streets. A lone young pony sat under a street light. He was a light orange color with orange eyes and a silver mane. He didn't yet have his cutie mark. A rich merchant turned a corner to walk down the street. The young pony looked up hopefully. "Please, spare a bit?" He asked. The merchant held his head up and kept walking. The young pony followed him. "Please sir, just one bit!" The merchant kept walking; an annoyed look on his face. "Please, just one little bit." He said. The merchant turned and glared at the young pony. "Leave me alone you ruffian!" He shouted. "I just need one bit…" The pony said. The merchant's horn started to glow and a moment later the street flashed with the light from a fireball. A scream woke up the residents of the street._

Silver awoke with a start; he sat straight up in bed. He was panting heavily and sweating profusely. He looked at the clock on the wall. It was six in the morning. A light grey pony with a neat mane walked in. "good morning Platter. Silver Platter held a tray filled with food. "Good morning master Mask." He looked him over. "You had that dream again, didn't you?" He asked. Silver nodded his head and leaned back against the headboard. "I've been having it more and more lately… I wonder what that means." He said. Silver Platter set the tray on the night stand next to the bed. "It means you shouldn't be out so late at night. You're just suffering from exhaustion." He said.

Silver nodded his head slowly. "Yes, that must be it." Silver Platter walked over to the window and opened the blinds. Sunlight streamed in nearly blinding Silver. He reached over to his night stand and pulled an eye patch out from under the tray of food. He put it around his head and tied in place so that it covered his right eye. "It's a big day today you know, it's not often the prince holds a party." Platter said. Silver nodded and levitated his cup of tea to his mouth.

He took a sip and placed the cup back onto the tray. "The party will be a good chance to find ponies willing to donate. I hope they are more considerate than last year." Platter nodded and opened the closet and pulled out a tuxedo. He placed it neatly on a chair. "I will make sure the others are up and doing their jobs. Please finish your breakfast today; Char will throw a fit if he thinks you don't like what he's cooking." Silver smiled and raised the cup of tea again.

**Main hall**

Platter walked into the main hall and was greeted by the staff of the house. "Good morning everypony. The master is awake and should be down shortly." They nodded their heads. "Does he like the food?" Char asked. He was a dark red pony with a light red mane. His mane had streaks of very dark red in it as well. His eyes were bright orange and his cutie mark was an open flame. Platter nodded. "Yes, he thinks it is fine. Please begin deciding what to cook for lunch." Char nodded and walked off to the kitchen. He turned to Autumn next. She was a yellow-orange color with a light orange mane. Her cutie mark was a maid's hat. "Please dust and do the laundry today. At lunch set the table and make sure all the glasses have water in them." She nodded and ran off. He turned to the last pony, Green. He was a young dark green pony with a slightly darker mane. His eyes were light green and his cutie mark was a trowel and a rake in an x. "Pull weeds in the garden, trim the hedges and make sure the herbs are doing well." Green smiled and nodded his head vigorously. "Ok Platter! I'll do that!" He ran off toward the back door. Platter nodded and walked off.

Up in Silver's room Silver was getting dressed. He had just finished putting on the tuxedo and was having trouble with the bowtie when Platter walked in. "Hey, could help me? For some reason I can't tie my bowtie." He said. Platter walked up to him and started rearranging his bowtie. When he finished he stepped back. "All done. I don't know what you would do without me." He said. Silver laughed and nodded his head. "I think I'll go for a walk this morning. I might go to the castle to meet the new general." He said. Platter nodded and stepped forward to adjust his collar. "Just be sure to get back before lunch." Silver nodded and walked toward the door. "Silver, please don't get into trouble." Silver nodded and walked out of the room. He passed Autumn while walking down the stairs. She looked up and smiled at him. "Good morning Silver! Should I clean your room?" She asked. He nodded. "As soon as you have the time." He said. She smiled and ran off to his room. _'Oh dear, she's going to forget about dusting now…' _He thought. He reached the bottom of the stairs and took his top hat off the hat rack. He placed it on his head as he walked outside.

It was a bright sunny day with birds chirping and a slight breeze rustling the leaves. He walked down the brick path toward the gate of his mansion. He walked out and turned down the street toward the castle. He noticed that there were very few ponies out and about as he walked. Up ahead was the gate of the castle, inside he could see the memorial of the civil war. The statue was of four ponies saluting in front of a strange object. He could never remember what it was called. At the gates the guards looked at him and allowed him passage. He walked through the large doors and stopped when a servant intercepted him. "Hello Silver, is there somepony in particular you were here to meet?" He smiled at the young servant. "Yes, I was hoping to meet with the new general if he's not too busy." The servant nodded. "He just finished combat practice. He should be in his room." The servant motioned for Silver to follow.

After a while they stopped in front of a wooden door. The servant knocked on the door and stepped back. "Come on in!" they heard yelled from inside. The servant pushed open the door. "Silver Mask would like to speak with you." He said. "Let him in then." Silver walked past the servant into the room. It was average size with one window, a bathroom, a writing desk, and a bed. The general was sitting on his bed removing his armor. "So, you're Silver Mask eh?" He asked. Silver nodded his head. "Yes, I just wanted to meet the new general of Equestria's army." He explained. He spread his arms apart. "Well. You met him. I'm Hawkeye by the way." He held out his hoof. Silver took it and they shook hoofs.

"I was also wondering if you'd be willing to donate to the homeless shelters. Every bit helps." He said. Hawkeye nodded. "Sure, I'll donate. How's twenty bits a month?" Hawkeye asked. Silver smiled and nodded his head. "That would be very generous of you Hawkeye. You can send the money directly to the shelters or give it to me and I'll distribute it." Hawkeye nodded and put his helmet on a hat rack. "If that's all you wanted to say then I should go. My wife is waiting for me." He stopped and smiled. "Wife…" He shook his head while smiling.

"Oh yes of course." He bowed and left the room. _'He seems nice, and he actually donated! I usually have to steal the money from them.' _He thought. He smiled as he left the building. On the way out he bumped into a light blue Pegasus. He jumped when he recognized her as his pursuer from his last theft. He tipped his hat and walked on quickly. She stared after him.


	2. Chapter 2 a guest

Silver stopped when he was outside of the castle to compose himself. _'Be rational Silver, there's no way she could have recognized you. You didn't use magic at any point during the theft, your horn was covered the entire time, your cutie mark was covered, and you never spoke. She couldn't have recognized you!' _He smiled and straightened his bowtie. He nearly had a heart attack when somepony behind him spoke though. "Hey! You just bumped into me and left without apologizing! That's kind of rude ya know!" He turned around and faced the light blue Pegasus.

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry about that. It's just I'm in a bit of a rush you see." He said as calmly as he could. She watched him un-trustfully. "If you're _so _rushed then how come you have time to straighten out your outfit? You weren't hurrying when you bumped into me! Who are you and what are you really doing!?" She took a step forward with each sentence. He took a step back each time she stepped forward. A guard walked over to them. "Is there a problem here?" He asked. Silver shook his head. "No, we were just having a bit of a discussion, but I really must be going now." He said. The guard nodded and walked away.

Silver turned to address the Pegasus. "Look, I'm sorry for bumping into you but there are some things that I must do. If you have any further questions you can visit my mansion at any time but there are ponies waiting for me." He said. He quickly wrote down his address on a piece of paper and handed it to her. "Once again I'm sorry for bumping into you." He tipped his hat and left.

**Rainbow Dash**

Rainbow Dash stared after him until he was clear of the gates then looked down at the piece of paper. "Maybe I will visit him…" She said. "But first." She took off and hid behind a cloud. She pushed the cloud after the strange pony to follow him. After a while he stopped in front of one of Canterlot's homeless shelters. He looked up at the building and then walked inside. She flew down into the bushes by one of the windows.

She peered in through the window and saw him walking around greeting the homeless ponies like he was friends with them. He would stop next to a pony and they would exchange some words then he'd move on to the next one. After a while he pulled out a coin purse and set nearly fifty bits on the counter. The owner nodded his head gratefully and put away the money. She flew up to the clouds again when he started walking toward the door.

He exited the building and kept walking down the street. She followed him in her cloud for a while before he stopped suddenly. He looked around confused and then looked up at her cloud. She was hidden well enough that he didn't see her so he kept walking warily. She followed him to an orphanage next. _'What is this pony's deal? He acts all twitchy and nervous around me but it doesn't look like he's doing anything wrong.' _She flew down into the bushes again. _'And why do these buildings always grow bushes under their windows?!' _She peered inside.

Inside he was talking with what appeared to be one of the caregivers. After a while a young filly walked up to him and started talking. He smiled sweetly and followed her away. She moved over to the next window. The next room's window was open so she could hear inside. "Silver!" Somepony exclaimed from inside. She looked in and saw another filly lying in a bed. "Hey there White, you're looking much better." The filly nodded excitedly. "Yup! I feel better too! But the doctor said I have to stay in bed…" Silver nodded. "Just do as the doctor says and you'll be out and about in no time." The other filly suddenly appeared in the window. "Who are you?" She asked. "Ah!" Rainbow Dash flew up to the clouds as quickly as she could. Silver walked over to the window and looked around. "Blue, did you see somepony out here?" He asked. She nodded her head. He opened the window and looked out worriedly.

Rainbow Dash followed him to every homeless shelter and orphanage in Canterlot. When the clock tower chimed that it was eleven he started walking toward the mansions in the better part of town. She flew ahead of him to the address he had given her. When she landed on the front step she took a moment to catch her breath then knocked on the doors. An older pony with a white mustache and neat hair answered the door. "Yes, may I help you?" He asked. She held out the note. "Silver said to meet him here; I need to ask him some questions." She said. He nodded. "This is indeed Silver's handwriting; I'll have autumn set another place at the table.

She followed him to a room filled with books and a fireplace and sat down in one of the chairs. The butler left once she was settled. Outside a young pony was watering some flowers that were sitting on the window sill. He looked up at her and smiled. He waved energetically and dropped the watering can. She watched him in surprise. _'He's a little young to be employed at a mansion, isn't he?' _She looked up when the butler came back. He was carrying a silver tray. He set it down on a table. "Would you like some tea while you wait?" She shook her head. "I don't like tea." He nodded and took the tray away. A while later she heard the door open and close again. "Ah, master, you have a guest waiting for you." She heard. "Have Autumn set another place at the table then." She could hear he was walking toward the room she was in. "Already taken care of. Lunch will be ready soon." The butler said. "Thank you platter." Silver walked into the room and glanced at Rainbow Dash. He walked over to a hat rack and put his top hat on it. "So, you still have questions even after you stalked me for half the day?" He asked. She jumped slightly. "You knew I was following you?" He chuckled. "I had a suspicion…" He sat down in the other chair in the room.

"So what is it you would like to know?" Platter brought him a cup of tea. She watched Platter walk away and saw a pony sweeping the floor in the main hall. "Well, first I wanna know why you were acting so twitchy while I was talking to you." She said. He nodded. "I was just in a hurry miss… I'm sorry but I never caught your name." She nodded. "The names Rainbow Dash." He considered that for a moment and took a sip of his tea. "Well miss Dash, is there anything else you would like to know?" She thought for a moment. "Why were you visiting all those homeless shelters and orphanages? I always thought you rich ponies didn't like to be seen with ponies like them." He laughed a little and involuntarily adjusted his eye patch. "I opened and fund all homeless shelters and orphanages here in Canterlot along with several in many other cities." She looked at him. "Why?" She asked. He shook his head and set the tea down on the table. "Perhaps another time I will tell you." She nodded her head untrustingly and continued asking questions. "Why did you hire somepony so young to be your gardener?" She asked. He smiled. "I hired Green because I was in need of a gardener and he was in need of a home. He's such a nice young lad." He said. "Alright, what about your other staff, your butler and maid for example." He nodded. "I hired Platter because he needed the job. I hired Autumn when I found her snooping through my trash. Poor girl must have been starving…" He smiled sadly at the memory. She looked at him in shock. "Were all your staff members homeless?" She asked. He shook his head. "I hired Char because he was fired from his last job, he didn't have time to be homeless before I hired him. She was about to say something when Platter walked in. "Lunch is ready sir." Silver smiled and set his cup of tea down on the table. "I would be happy if you joined me for lunch, Char is an excellent cook." They heard a voice from the doorway. Char was leaning against the doorframe smiling. "Only excellent? That hurt my feelings!" He was wearing a white chef's shirt. Rainbow stood up. "No, I don't feel hungry." Her stomach growled loudly showing that she was lying. Silver smiled. "I insist, please." He motioned to the door way. She sighed and followed him to the dinning room.


	3. Chapter 3 invitation

The table had six spots set, each with a simple white plate, a cloth napkin, a fork, a knife, and a spoon. Each glass had water in it with a lemon slice on the side. Several covered platters sat on the table. Silver pulled out a chair for Rainbow Dash and motioned for her to sit down. She sat down hesitantly and he pushed her up to the table. He then went to the head of the table and took his seat. Autumn came into the room with Green following behind her happily. They took their seats as well. Platter came in with a bottle of yellow liquid. He stopped beside Rainbow Dash. "Would the lady like some sparkling apple cider? Unfortunately we save the wine for special occasions." She nodded and he filled a glass next to her water. He filled the rest of the glasses then set the bottle on the table. Char waited patiently next to the table while Platter took his seat. "Alright! Today I've made dried apple salad, carrot and potato soup, and lemon pudding for desert!" He uncovered the items to reveal very delicious looking food. Except the soup. The soup was black. "Um, Char? What did you do to the soup?" Silver asked. Char looked at it and jumped. "Oops! That's the one I burned earlier, I'll go get the good soup." Silver looked at him funny. "How did you manage to burn soup?" He asked. Char looked at the soup confused. "You know; I have no idea." He took the platter away.  
Once Char was back and seated Silver said they could eat. Everything looked so good that Dash had to try a little bit of everything. Everything was delicious, she decided. After a while Green turned to Rainbow Dash. "I saw you in the window! Did you see me? I waved at you! And then I dropped the watering can! did you see me? Huh? Did you?" He asked excitedly. She turned to him in surprise. "Uh, yeah, I saw you." He turned to Silver. "Hey Silver! Is she your special somepony?" He choked on his food in surprise. Dash jumped in shock. "Goodness no! She simply came to ask some questions! What put that idea in your head?" He asked when he recovered a little. Green smiled innocently. "I was just wondering." Char was trying to suppress laughter while Autumn glared at him.  
Silver lead Dash to the door and stopped in front of it. "I enjoyed your visit. You can come back any time. Actually..." He put one of his hands in his pocket and pulled out two tickets. "I received two tickets for Prince Blue Blood's party and I don't know what to do with the other. Would you like to come?" He asked. She looked at the ticket. "What exactly is Blue Blood throwing a party for?" She asked. "It's the tenth anniversary of the day the civil war ended. He's invited many important ponies who served in the war, he's invited the Wonder bolts to do a show, there will be fireworks-" she interrupted him suddenly. "The Wonder Bolts will be there?! Of course I'll go!" She said excitedly. He looked at her in surprise and handed her the ticket. She rushed away saying something about needing to see Rarity. He looked after her in surprise.  
Platter was suddenly behind him. "She's a nice young lady. If she really isn't your special somepony you should ask her." Silver jumped. He turned to face Platter with a scowl. "She is not my special somepony and I'm not going to ask her!" He stormed off toward his room. Platter watched him go chuckling. Once in his room Silver looked in the mirror. He stared at his reflection thinking about Rainbow Dash. A knock on the door broke through his thoughts. "Come in!" He called out. Autumn walked in with a gold locket. "I found it! I'm sorry I lost it in the first place..." He smiled and took the locket. "It's all right, I probably would have lost it at some point any way. He hung it around his neck and tucked it into his shirt. She smiled and left the room.  
Rarity's Boutique  
Rainbow Dash burst through the door in excitement startling Steam into jumping up and reaching for his hip like a sword was there. A moment later he realised that there was no sword and that it was just Rainbow Dash. "Oh hello Rainbow, why are you in such a rush?" She looked around for Rarity. "Where's Rarity? I need something to wear!" She exclaimed quickly. Rarity walked in from a side door. "Calm down Rainbow! You'll upset Gold!" She exclaimed. Rainbow nodded and relaxed a little. "I need something to wear to Prince Blue Blood's party!" She said. Steam looked at her surprised. "You received an invitation too?" He asked. She ignored him. "Do you still have my gala dress?" She asked. Rarity nodded and walked to the back room. A moment later she came back with Dash's dress. "Here you are dear, the party starts in about an hour, if I were you I'd hurry." Rainbow nodded and thanked Rarity. "I guess we will see you there." Steam said. Pinkie Pie bounced into the room from outside. "Alright! I'm here to baby sit!" she exclaimed. Rarity nodded and Shooed Rainbow out of the boutique.  
She bumped into Ace, Applejack, Maelstrom and Jonathan on her way out. "Howdy Rainbow! Why do you have your gala dress?" Applejack asked. She was wearing her Gala dress. Ace was wearing his flak Jacket with medals pinned to it. Jonathan wore a simple suit and Maelstrom had his navy uniform on. "I got an invitation to Blue Blood's party." She explained. Ace looked at her funny. "You got an invitation?" She rolled her eyes. "Why does everypony find that so hard to believe?!" She asked. Fluttershy and Quick Shot came toward the group. Fluttershy was wearing her gala dress and Quick Shot was wearing his flak jacket with medals attached.  
Rarity and Steam came out shortly later. Rarity wore her Gala dress as well and Steam had his admiral's armor on. He was also wearing a saber and had three or four medals pinned to his chest. "Oh good, now that we're all here we can go." Said Ace. "Oh wait!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She rushed into Rarity's house. "Hey!" Rarity yelled after her. A little bit later Rainbow came back out in her dress. "Alright... I'm ready..." She panted. Ace shook his head in amusement. "Why do you want to go to this party so badly?" He asked. The group started walking as she explained. "The Wonder Bolts are going to be there! I can't miss a chance like that!" rarity nodded. "I heard they hired the best pyrotechnician in all of equestria to do the fireworks display. What was his name? Gear? Anyway, I hope it will be a wonderful display." Applejack nodded. "Well I heard they hired the best chef! I can't wait to taste the food!" The group walked along talking excitedly about the party until they reached the train.  
They settled themselves in once on board and continued talking. Rainbow noticed a dark red pony with a strange cutie mark walk into their car. He turned around and she could see the shadow of a very tall unicorn. She couldn't hear what was said but a moment later the pony nodded and stepped into the car. The door slid shut behind him. He walked to an empty seat and sat down.  
Rainbow walked over and sat down across from him. "Who are you?" She asked. He looked up with no expression. "Pain." He said. He was pretty tall, but not as tall as the princesses. "What? You're in pain or your name is pain?" She asked. His expression never changed. "My name is Pain." He said. She watched him carefully. "What kind of name is Pain?" She asked. He didn't move. "It's the kind of name I have." He said. "Although ponies occasionally refer to me as Agony or suffering." He said. She watched him for a while longer then went back to her seat. Pain went back to looking out the window.  
She watched him until the train arrived in Canterlot. He never moved once during that time. He just kept staring out the window. When the train stopped he stood up and started walking to the exit. Before he reached the exit he stopped and coughed violently. The others looked at him worriedly. "Are you all right there partner?" Asked Applejack. He nodded and stood for a moment before continuing on. Rainbow Dash walked up to the spot he had been standing in and found a couple droplets of blood on the floor. The others were already off the train so she followed after them. Twilight and Hawkeye were waiting for them on the platform. Twilight was, of course, wearing her gala dress. Hawkeye however was wearing his generals armor with nearly twice as many medals as Ace. "Hey! Ace, Quick shot! Glad you could make it!" The two of them walked over, or in Quick shot's case wheeled over, to talk with him.  
Twilight and Hawkeye led the group to the castle where other ponies were streaming in to attend the party. Prince Blue Blood was greeting guests at the door. "Welcome Hawkeye, Twilight, I'm glad you could attend the party." They passed through. Steam and rarity came next. Rarity refused to look at the prince. "Thank you for coming Steam and Rarity..." He focused on Steam. They passed through. Once inside Rainbow Dash started looking for the Wonder Bolts. She saw Soarin and Spitfire standing near the far wall and started to walk over excitedly. On the way she bumped into a grey pony in a brown vest and wearing goggles. "Oh, sorry." He said and continued on. His cutie mark was two gears. She watched him for a while then continued on to the two Wonder Bolts.


	4. Chapter 4 old enemies

"Hey! It's me Rainbow Dash! Do you remember me?" Rainbow called out when she neared the two of them. "Oh yeah. I remember you, you won the best flier competition that one year and saved us as well." Spitfire said. Rainbow nodded vigorously and smiled. "You wouldn't happen to have any food? Would you?" Soarin asked. Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Are you ever NOT hungry?" She asked him. Just then Silver walked over. "Ah! Miss Dash, I'm glad you could come." She looked at him annoyed. "Oh! You know Silver?" Spitfire asked. She nodded her head hesitantly. "Yeah, I know him. He gave me a ticket so I could come." Spitfire nodded. Silver smiled sweetly. "How do you know Silver?" Rainbow asked. Soarin wandered off to one of the many tables full of food. "He fixes our performance suits. He owns a very large textile company." She said.  
"Well, we'll be flying soon so I better find Soarin. It was nice seeing you again Rainbow, nice to see you as well Silver." She walked off into the crowed. "You fix the Wonderbolt's suits!?" She asked excitedly. "That's so cool!" he grinned. "I take it your a fan of the Wonderbolts. Well it's nice to see that you came, there are ponies I need to speak with. Have a nice night." He tipped his hat and started walking away. "Wait!" Rainbow called out. She ran up to him. "I could... come with you... just in case you run into more of the Wonderbolts." She said. He smiled. "Are you sure? My conversations are going to be incredibly boring." He warned. She nodded her head hesitantly.  
It turns out his conversations were incredibly boring. On several occasions Silver had turned to Rainbow to tell her she could leave at any time but she stayed with him. '_Alright, he donates to the poor, is rich, knows the wonderbolts and is very polite... Not your typical aristocrat.' _She thought. The red pony from the train bumped into her. suddenly. "Ah! Sorry... I need to speak with the Princesses, do you know where they are?" He asked. She shook her head. He looked down sadly. "Oh..." He walked away. She looked down at her dress to find a red smear on it. Luckily it was difficult to notice. "Is everything all right?" Silver asked. Rainbow nodded her head. "Yeah, but I think that pony is sick, he just bled on me." Silver examined her dress closely. "Hmm... We should speak to the Princesses about this. We wouldn't want an illness to spread." He said. Silver led her through the crowd to a large pair of doors. He pushed them open a little and looked inside. He could hear voices but couldn't see anypony.  
"Pain! Why have you come here!" A voice said. It sounded like princess Celestia. "We imprisoned you in those cairn stones nearly two thousand years ago." Added a voice that sounded like Luna's. "I-I know... but it's Fate! He brought me back to give you a warning!" Pain said. Silver motioned for Rainbow Dash to follow him. They crept into the room a little and quietly shut the door behind them. "A warning? Why would he free you instead of coming directly to us?" Celestia asked. "For the same reason he released me." A fourth voice said. "Discord!" Luna exclaimed. "Something very bad is happening. Unfortunately we HAVE to work together." Said Discord. "That's my warning, Chaos is on his way to Equestria." Pain said. "Discord..." Rainbow muttered. Silver looked back at her then peeked around the corner. He could see a tall red pony and a strange creature standing in front of the two Princesses. A Shadow came out from behind one of the pillars. "I am also resurrected. Though not physically." A new voice said. Luna flinched visibly. "Hello Nightmare..." Discord said in distaste. Pain leaned forward to look at her. "Who are you?" He asked. Luna shook her head in wonder. "That's nightmare moon, I'm not surprised you don't know of her, being imprisoned and all." He nodded. Silver turned back to Rainbow Dash. She was shaking with rage. "What's wrong?" He whispered. "They're back! After all the six of us went through to defeat them, they're back!" She whispered fiercely. He nodded and looked around the corner again. Discord was right in front of him with a disappointed look on his face. "Spys eh?" He waved his hand and they appeared before the princesses. "Rainbow Dash! Silver! How dare you spy on us!" Princess Celestia exclaimed. Silver straightened himself up and met her gaze proudly. "You should have locked your doors." He said. Rainbow looked at him in surprise.  
"Rainbow, you know Discord and Nightmare..." Princess Celestia said. Discord crossed his arms and refused to look at her. Nightmare nodded her head and looked away as well. "I doubt you've met Pain, he is a demon who inflicted pain on ponies to make himself happy." She said in disgust. "I told you! I involuntarily grin when Somepony is in pain. I couldn't care less if ponies are in pain or not." He said. Silver shook his head in wonder. "I thought you were all dead." He said. "No, only imprisoned." Luna said. Pain turned back to the Princesses. "You have to believe me! Chaos is coming here! Fate says that the twelve elements are needed to repel him from this world and perhaps imprison him." Pain said. Celestia shook her head. "Twelve? There are only six! Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, and Magic." She said. He shook his head slowly. "He said Twelve..." A bright flash interrupted them. A black Alicorn with a spiky mane and tail appeared. His cutie mark was a skull. He glared at them all. "My name is Death." He said. His voice was deep and scratchy. "I've come in place of Fate. He sends his apologies." The Alicorn said.  
"Greetings Death. Why are you here?" Asked Celestia. He continued glaring around the room. "I've come to tell you about the remaining six elements, the male elements if you would..." He muttered. They looked at him intently. "What?" He asked. "We're waiting for you to tell us about them." Luna said. He rolled his eyes. "Should have said so you little fucks..." He muttered. "Excuse me?!" Silver said aghast. Death ignored him. "The six elements are as follows, Leadership, Indifference, Morality, Wisdom, Calm, and Forgiveness." He said. Celestia looked at him in surprise. "Where do we find such elements?" She asked. He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "How the hell should I know? You're the ones who need them..." He said. A butterfly passed by him and he touched it. It fell onto the floor unmoving. "Now if you'd excuse me I need to leave." He disappeared in a flash. A moment later another flash blinded them and a white Alicorn appeared. "Goddammit Death! You can't just kill whatever you want!" The Alicorn exclaimed. He had a neat mane and tail and his cutie mark was a halo with wings on either side of it. He touched the butterfly and it groggily got up and fluttered away. "Good day." He said and disappeared in a flash.  
"That was... interesting..." Pain said slowly. Discord nodded and stared at the spot the two Alicorns had appeared and disappeared in. "Where do you suppose we could find the other six elements?" Luna asked out loud. "I have no idea." Said Celestia. "Perhaps we could ask you're most esteemed student, you always seem to turn to her in situations like this, why not one more time?" Nightmare said sarcastically. "Or would you care to actually solve this one yourself?" Discord added. Celestia glared at them fiercely. "I didn't have any choice the first time Nightmare, you imprisoned me!" She nearly shouted. "Whole lot of imprisonment going on recently eh?" Pain asked. She turned to Discord. "And you! I had them take care of you because they were the bearers of the elements of harmony. I would have wiped you off the face of the planet if I had been able to use the elements!" She was starting to turn red at the face. "Oh, you would have banished him to the moon for a thousand years like you did with me? Remember how THAT turned out?!" Nightmare exclaimed. Pain took a step back. "Oh no... not good..." The conversation turned into a yelling fight. The three of them yelled at each other in rage. Luna stepped away from the three and turned to Pain. "Um, perhaps we should speak somewhere else." She said. Pain nodded and followed her through a side door. Meanwhile Princess Celestia, Discord, and Nightmare continued to scream at each other.


	5. Chapter 5 a plan

Silver turned to Rainbow Dash. "Perhaps we should leave now." She nodded and the two of them walked toward the door. They found Twilight and Hawkeye standing at the door. "What's going on in there? I can hear a lot of yelling." Rainbow glared at the floor and wouldn't speak so Silver responded. "Well, um... I think you should gather the other bearers of the elements. Princess Celestia should tell you herself I think." He said. She looked at him confused. Hawkeye turned to Twilight. "I'll find the others." He walked off into the crowd. Rainbow looked up at Silver. "How can you be completely calm at a time like this?!" She yelled at him. He flinched and smiled sheepishly. "Well there's no need to panic is there?" He asked. She growled and looked away from him. Twilight watched the two with interest.  
A while later Hawkeye returned with everypony who had come to the party. Ponies started watching them with interest. "All right, that's everypony who came." Hawkeye said. The group walked into the room. Inside the three had stopped yelling at each other and were instead glaring daggers at each other silently. "Discord!" Twilight exclaimed in surprise. He turned around startled and then frowned. "Oh good. Now we'll have to explain all over again." He said. Princess Celestia looked around the room and frowned. "Where did Luna and Pain go?" She asked. Silver motioned to a side door. "They went that way." He said. She left the room in a hurry.  
Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack glared at Discord while Fluttershy hid behind them. "Hey! I'm not the only one you've defeated in this room. You remember Nightmare Moon?" He pointed to a floating cloud of darkness grinning evilly. "Hey! Why did you point me out!" The cloud exclaimed. "Nightmare Moon?! What's going on here?!" Twilight yelled in frustration. "The demon Pain is also here. Though I doubt your teacher has told you anything about him." Nightmare said. Celestia walked in with Luna behind her. Pain followed behind Luna looking at the floor as though he was ashamed of something he did. "We'll talk about this later sister." Celestia said fiercely. "We did not do anything!" Protested Luna. Celestia turned and glared so fiercely that Luna shrunk back in terror.  
They took their seats on their thrones and addressed the group of ponies. "Well. You've seen that Discord and Nightmare Moon are back. However they are apparently here to help us. As Pain explained earlier Chaos is coming to our world and we must stop him." Twilight shook her head in confusion. "Who's Chaos? Why do we need their help to defeat him? Can't we just use the elements like we did to defeat Discord and Nightmare?" She asked. Celestia nodded her head. "A very good point Twilight. However, an Alicorn named Death appeared a while ago. He told us that twelve elements were needed to defeat Chaos. I don't know who Chaos is though." They looked at her in surprise. "Twelve? But there's only six!" Rarity exclaimed.  
"Yes, that's what I thought. But apparently there are six more. He described these elements as the male elements. Leadership, Indifference, Wisdom, Calm, Morality, and Forgiveness" Celestia said. The room was silent for a while. "Well... I'm going to start by searching the library. There may be something there that could help." Twilight said. Hawkeye nodded. "I'll take Ace to those ruins in the ever free forest, it hasn't been explored properly and there could be something there." Steam stepped forward. "I'll make contact with my former crew and ask them to sail to different parts of the world. Perhaps someone in a different country could help." Princess Celestia nodded. "All very good ideas. The rest of you please continue on normally." She said.  
Silver and Rainbow Dash left the room together. "Well tonight has been exciting..." Silver said. Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Hey. There's still time to watch the Wonder Bolts perform." He suggested. She nodded a little and they walked through the crowds toward the balcony. A grey pony in a brown vest bumped into Rainbow Dash. "Oh, sorry again. In a hurry!" He walked quickly off. She stared after him. "What's his deal?" She wondered out loud. They continued on toward the balcony. "I wonder where the other six could be..." Silver said. Rainbow shook her head. "I don't know, but we shouldn't talk about it around so many ponies." She said. He nodded in agreement.  
They arrived at the balcony to find a small crowd of ponies with scars and different medals standing there. They each wore shinning metal armor with the Prench insignia on it. Red Wine, the former president of Prance, stood talking to Ace near the railing. Ace noticed them walking over. "Hey Rainbow! Have you seen Twilight or Hawkeye anywhere?" She shook her head. "Ah well... oh! This is Red Wine. She was the President of Prance. She's also a war veteran." Red Wine walked over. She was wearing full plate male without a helmet. She instead wore her hair straight and parted to one side with a dark red beret. "Eet iz a pleasure to meet you ms. Dash." She said. Her armor clinked as she raised her hoof. Rainbow shook it and smiled a little. "Nice to meet you too." She looked up at the sky. "Are the Wonder Bolts performing soon?" She asked.  
"Yes, very soon. Most ponies are gathering in the courtyard but I figured there'd be a better view from the balcony." The four went to the railing, the Prench veterans parting for their former president respectfully. "I ave never zeen the wonder bolts before. Are zey good?" Red asked. Rainbow smiled and nodded her head. "Oh yeah! They're the best fliers in all of Equestria!" She exclaimed. Silver pointed off in the distance. "Look! They're starting their routine." The crowd fell silent while the wonder bolts performed.  
After a while of intricate flips, dives, spins, and other moves the Wonder Bolts landed. A cheer rose from the crowd in the courtyard clapped while the Prech soldiers on the balcony whooped and whistled in approval. They got dirty looks from several of the aristocrats. Spitfire flew up to the balcony still in her performance suit. "That was wonderful Spitfire!" Silver exclaimed. He walked over with the other three trailing behind him. "Thanks Silver. Interesting place to watch the show from." She said looking around. One of the Prench soldiers was winking and making kissing faces at her. "This was the best place to view the show." He responded. Red Wine went over to the veteran and punched the top of his head down. Spitfire nodded and turned to Rainbow. "How about you Rainbow? You like the show?" She asked. Rainbow nodded vigorously. "You guys are awesome!" She exclaimed. Ace held out his hoof. "Hi I'm Ace, veteran of the civil war." Spitfire took his hoof and shook it. "Nice to meet you Ace. You've made quite a few new friends Silver." She said. Silver nodded and grinned broadly.  
Silver looked out into the garden and saw a faint light. "What's that?" He wondered out loud. A moment later there was a small boom and a streak of light flew up into the sky. It exploded into a red ball of light. Another one shot up in a green ball. "The fireworks!" Ace exclaimed delightedly. "I used to watch these all the time when I was little. Every forth of July my parents would take me out to the river and we'd watch them shoot fireworks from barges!" They looked at him funny. "What's on the fourth of July?" Spitfire asked. He jumped startled. "Oh ah, it's just a holiday we celebrated where I come from." They went back to watching the fireworks.  
**The library**  
"Come on! There's got to be something!" Books flew from the shelves and opened to the index. Twilight quickly scanned them and tossed them behind her. "No... no... no, no, no, no!" She growled in frustration. Outside the fireworks were lighting up the sky in brilliant colors. Twilight walked over to the librarian who was frantically trying to organize the books she was throwing off the shelves. "Are you sure you remember a book with twelve elements?" She asked. The librarian nodded her head. "Yes, yes! It was a big brown book with twelve symbols on the front. It's funny, I never noticed it until about an hour ago and know I can't remember where I put it!" She said. Twilight sighed and climbed up a ladder. She got on top of the shelves and started jumping from one case to another looking down at the books. "Hey! You can't go up there!" The librarian exclaimed.  
Twilight ignored the librarian and continued searching. She continued pulling books off the shelves and tossing them haphazardly around the room. She emptied out the last shelf and sighed in frustration. "Where is the book!" She shouted at no pony in particular. She climbed down a ladder and tripped over a large brown book. "Oof! She picked up the book and found twelve symbols in a circle on the front cover. "Ah! Here it is!" She levitated the book before her and left. "Thanks for the help!" She called out happily. The librarian groaned as she looked around the room. "Your welcome..."


	6. Chapter 6 a story

The party ended and guests started leaving the castle. The servants went around cleaning tables and sweeping the floor as the guests left. Prince Blue Blood stood at the door saying goodbye to the guests as they left. Silver and Rainbow Dash were walking toward the exit when Twilight ran up to them. "Hey! Wait up!" She called out. A large book was floating beside her. She stopped next to them panting. "Did... the others... leave?" She asked out of breath. "Yes, they all left." Silver replied. He looked at the book fascinated. "What's that?" He asked. She showed him the cover. "The twelve elements of harmony and balance." She opened the book. "It's filled with all kinds of details about each element and how each one can be used!" She flipped through the book and stopped on a page that said magic in bold letters at the top. "For example, the bearer of the element of magic has the ability to sense when magic is being used. I didn't know that!" She exclaimed excitedly. Silver shook his head. "If you're the element of magic how could you not know that? Couldn't you sense when magic is being used?" He asked. She nodded her head. "Now I can, I didn't know about it before so I didn't know what was happening when I was sensing magic." He nodded his head.  
She flipped to another page. "The first fifty or so pages are about the elements, the next couple of pages describe how they are used." She pointed at the top of the page. It read Morality and Generosity. "It says in the book that each of the elements must be with its counterpart in order to work. This example is Morality and Generosity." Rainbow read a little of what was on the page. "So basically if both of these elements aren't near each other they don't work?" She asked. Twilight shook her head. "No they still work apart. They just can't be used to their full extent." She explained.  
Twilight flipped to the last couple of pages. "These pages detail how to get the elements. The elements of harmony are easy enough and we already have them. The elements of balance however are more difficult." She explained. Silver read a little of what was written on the page. '_Wisdom may find his element by sacrificing a part of himself. Only once he has become fully aware of his wrong doings and has sacrificed himself may he find his element.' _"Interesting." He said quietly. Twilight read the rest from the book. 'Leadership may find his element by acknowledging he needs help. Only humility and the recognition that he needs others to help can unlock his element.' 'Indifference may find his element by simply smiling. Only once he acknowledges that you sometimes need to smile will he unlock his element.' 'Calm may find his element by panicking. Only once he has learned that a little bit of panic could be a good thing will he unlock his element.' 'Morality may find his element by doing things his way. Only once he has learned that he sometimes needs to take initiative will he unlock his element.' 'Forgiveness may find his element by forgiving the one who has done him wrong. Once he has forgiven his wrong doer he will unlock not only his element, but the wrong shall be fixed.'" She read.  
"Wow, that's an incredible find!" Rainbow Dash said. "What's my ability?!" She asked excited. twilight flipped the pages to the chapter marked Loyalty. "You have the ability to convince others to stay loyal. I guess that means you could keep ponies from deserting the military or something?" She shook her head confused. "I have no idea." Rainbow looked down at the floor disappointed. Twilight closed the book. "I need to show this to the princesses, I'm staying in the castle tonight so don't wait up for me." She turned and left running to find the Princesses.  
Silver turned to Rainbow Dash. "Well that's good news indeed. Shall we go now?" He asked. She nodded her head and followed. "Silver?" She asked. He looked back at her. "Yes?" She watched him nervously. "Why do you do so much for the poor?" She asked. He nodded. "A good question. When I was younger I myself was an orphan. I had no home so I wandered the streets begging for bits." He explained as they walked. She walked up next to him and matched his pace. "Every day was very hard on me. I was almost always hungry. One night while begging for bits a rich merchant decided to fire a bolt of fire into my eye." He pointed at the eye patch. She looked at it startled. "It had been raining a lot so there were puddles everywhere. I stuck my face in one to soothe the pain. The puddle must have had something in it because my burn never really healed properly." She nodded and listened intently as they walked. They paused to say goodbye to Blue Blood and kept walking toward his mansion. "A notorious thief found me with my face in the puddle. Why are you holding your face in the water? He asked me. So I told him what happened." She nodded. "Who was the notorious thief?" She asked him. "I never knew his real name, but ponies called him the wraith because no one ever saw him. Anyway, he took pity on me and gave me enough bits to check into a hospital. While in the waiting room a couple noticed me all alone. After finding out that I didn't have parents they took me in and raised me. The generosity of the thief and my adopted parents inspired me to help those in need." They stopped in front of his gate. "Thank you for coming to the party. I'd walk you home, but apparently you live in Ponyville." She smiled and shook his hoof. "Thanks for giving me the ticket. I'll visit you some time." She said. He nodded. "Well goodnight." They walked their separate ways.  
Silver walked in through the front door. The mansion was very quiet. Most likely his staff was sleeping. He walked up to his room and went inside. Waiting on his bed was his tan cloth outfit and an empty bag. A note was sitting on top of them. '_Please don't do anything stupid.'_ He smiled and took off his tuxedo. He slipped into the heavy cloth clothing and wrapped a cloth around his head. He removed his locket and eye patch and set them on the table beside his bed. Once that was done he teleported to the alleyway near the entrance to the city. He climbed up to the top of a building and began running across the roof tops toward his target. '_Is it stealing if the money is already stolen?' _He thought. He jumped from roof to roof racing toward the estate of a rich merchant he had met at the party. His hooves made hardly any noise on the roof tops and his outfit made sure no noise was made when accidentally bumping into things. He looked down at the street below and saw Rainbow Dash walking. '_Oh! I forgot she was here. Hmm... I'll have to be more careful.' _He continued running.  
Rainbow Dash stopped when she heard a very faint clicking coming from above her. She looked up but couldn't see anypony on the roof. "Hmm..." she flew up into the air to take a better look at the city. She scanned the city for movement and finally saw a pony running across the roof tops. She flew silently behind him. '_That's the thief I was chasing out of ponyville!' _She sped on after him. He dove through an open window and she stopped. '_Wow, convenient that that window was open.' _She waited on the roof of the building. A little while later the pony jumped out of the window. The sack he was carrying looked like it was full of something. "Stop! Thief!" She yelled. The thief stumbled in surprise and looked back at her. She flew toward him at top speed.  
Silver looked behind him when he heard somepony yell. "Oh shit!" He muttered when he saw her and began running at top speed down the roof tops. She was slowly gaining on him though. He jumped down the roofs and into the alleyways. "Let's see her follow me through a maze of alleys." He muttered. He ran randomly around corners and through the narrow path ways. He paused after turning a corner to catch his breathe. "This isn't good, she's too fast." He muttered. He turned and she was standing right in front of him. "Ah!" He jumped in surprise. "You're darn right I'm fast!" She tackled him to the ground. He struggled under her trying to get away. "You're not going anywhere thief!" He managed to get one of his hoofs free. He really didn't want to, but it was the only way he saw getting away from her. He pulled down his mask and suddenly kissed her full on the mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise. She stepped back slightly and he managed to break free of her. He ran around the corner and teleported to his mansion.


	7. Chapter 7 The Thief's Lament

Silver appeared directly in front of Platter. Platter's eyes widened but he made no other obvious reaction to his sudden appearance. "Welcome home Silver." He said. Silver nodded panting. He thrust the bag of bits to Platter. "You know what to do with this." Platter took the heavy bag. "Did something happen? I told you not to do anything stupid!" Platter exclaimed. Silver walked groggily toward his room. His head hung low from exhaustion. "I'll tell you in the morning. I would appreciate it if you would start a bath for me." He started walking up the stairs. "Yes... of course..." Platter watched him worried.  
Once up in his bed room Silver took off the heavy cloth. He carefully pulled back one of the boards in his closet and stashed the garment under it. He placed the board back in place and stood up. His reflection caught his eye. He walked closer to the mirror and stood looking at his reflection. He lightly touched the scarring around his eye. He heard water being turned on somewhere in the mansion.  
Silver thought of what had happened that night while sitting in the plain white tub. He thought back to when he kissed Rainbow Dash. It had been necessary at the time to escape but he found that he had enjoyed the kiss a little. 'I am not in love with Rainbow Dash! I HAD to kiss her to get away...' He sank lower into the water. Platter walked into the room with a towel. "You should go to bed Silver. It's very late." Silver nodded slowly and drained the bath. He took the towel and stepped out of the tub.  
**The next morning**  
Rainbow Dash hesitated before knocking on Silver's door. She looked up and down the street to make sure no pony was looking. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A while later Platter appeared at the door. "Hello miss Dash. Please come in." He stepped aside and she walked in. He shut the door and led her to the sitting room. "Please make yourself comfortable while I fetch Silver." She sat down in one of the chairs. She glanced out the window and saw Green harvesting various vegetables. She watched him until Silver walked through the door.  
He sat down in the other empty chair. "To what do I owe this... unexpected visit?" He looked very tired. Rainbow turned to face him. "I simply wanted to ask you some questions." He nodded confused. "All right. Ask away." He leaned back in the chair. "Are you the One Eyed Thief?" She asked bluntly. His eyes widened in surprise. "What in Equestria gave you that idea?" He asked. She watched him carefully. "Answer the question." She said. He shook his head. "No! Of course I'm not!" She looked at him unconvinced. "Fine then, where were you last night?" She asked. He didn't hesitate before answering. "I was here, trying to sleep. You should know that, we walked here together!" She nodded her head. "If you were here then why do you look so tired? Did you go for a little midnight walk?" She asked.  
He shook his head. "No, I get these dreams, you see, of when I was younger. They're very unpleasant and usually make me tired the next morning." She nodded her head. Rainbow thought for a while then growled in frustration. "Just admit you're the thief! I saw you last night! You kissed me and then ran away!" She yelled. Silver shook his head. "I was in my house the entire night." He said. She glared at him. Silver sat forward in the chair and put his head in his hoofs. "Ugh, so tired..." A small golden locket fell out of his shirt and dangled from his neck. "What's that, did you steal it last night?" She asked.  
Silver froze and turned his head slowly. Her eyes widened in surprise to see anger on his face instead of surprise. "This Locket, Miss Dash, was given to me." He yanked it off his neck and held it up for her to see. "The wraith gave it to me before he was executed. When the executioner asked if he had any last wishes he simply pulled this locket off his neck and threw it to me. I was standing in front of the crowd." He explained. His anger grew a little every moment he told the story. "He threw the locket to me, inside was a picture of a mare and a stallion I didn't recognize. He then silently put the rope around his neck and waited for the executioner to pull the the lever." His rage turned into sadness and he gently opened the locket. Inside was a picture of two ponies. "I begged for the guards to let him go but they held me back. They pulled the lever and he fell." He stopped and touched one of the pictures. "I found out that these are pictures of my real parents. He had apparently tracked them down. Unfortunately they had both died some time ago." He closed the locket and hung it over his neck.  
He stared at the floor sadly. Rainbow bit her lower lip and looked around the room sadly. "I-I'm sorry... I... shouldn't have..." She stopped. He looked up at her. "I think you should leave now..." She nodded and they walked toward the door. She stopped him before he could open it. "If you are the thief... just know that what you're doing is wrong, no matter how much those nobles deserve it." She opened the door and left leaving Silver standing in the room alone.  
**Silver Platter's room**  
Platter jumped when he heard a knock on the door. He opened the door to reveal Silver. "Hm, I usually knock on your door... did something happen?" Silver nodded sadly. "I... we need to talk..." Silver led Platter to the dinning room and sat down. Platter sat down across from him with a worried look. "What's on your mind?" He asked. Silver stared at his hoofs for a while then looked up at Platter. "I want your honest opinion, should I stop stealing?" He asked. Platter looked at him. "Yes... I believe you should stop stealing." He said. Silver nodded and looked down at his hoof again. "I... thought I was doing a good thing... those ponies... they needed a home and..." Platter nodded sympathetically. "I realize that you have good intentions but stealing is stealing." Platter said.  
Silver nodded. The room was silent for a long time. Silver looked up. "I... I'm going to turn myself in." He said. Platter jumped in shock. "Silver! The penalty for grand theft is death!" He exclaimed. Silver nodded sadly. "I know." He said simply. Platter shook his head. "No! I won't let you!" Silver looked him dead in the eyes. "I have committed a crime. Other ponies are punished for crimes. I should not be an exception."  
Platter opened his mouth as though about to speak but closed it. Silver looked at him sadly. "There is just one thing I need to do before I turn myself in." He took out the locket and pulled the pictures out. "Could you get a picture of Rainbow Dash?" Platter nodded his head, a tear forming in his eye. "Yes... I'll find a picture for you..." He slowly stood and left the room.  
Silver walked up to his room and pulled found a picture of him small enough to fit in the locket. He then took a feather pen and a piece of paper.  
_Dear Rainbow Dash_  
_Please come to the central square of Canterlot at one o'clock tomorrow. There is something you need to see. It has something to do with what you said this morning. I didn't realize it until now, but you are right. I have also thought about this matter some and I have come to the conclusion that I love you. I wish you would feel the same._

_Silver Mask_

He folded the letter and put it inside an envelope. He addressed it to Rainbow Dash and sat at the writing desk. A tear slowly rolled down his cheek.


	8. Chapter 8 an execution

Rainbow Dash stood up from her cloud couch when she heard a knock at her door. She opened it to find Derpy fumbling through a bag of letters. "Hiya Dash! I got a letter for ya!" She pulled a small envelope out of the bag and handed it to Rainbow. Derpy saluted and flew away. Rainbow closed the door and brought the envelope to her bedroom. The envelope only said Rainbow Dash in very neat writing. She opened the letter and read it. She blinked in surprise once she had read its contents. rainbow looked out her window at Canterlot.  
Silver  
Silver walked down the street proudly wearing his thieves garb. The ponies on the street stared at him in shock as he walked by toward the castle. Several ponies dropped what they were doing to follow the thief. He walked silently up to the guards at the gate and handed them a letter he had written earlier.  
'I am the one eyed thief. I have come to turn myself in. I request my execution to be today at one thirty. I request to be executed by being hanged. I request that I be allowed to wear what I am currently wearing to my execution.'  
The guards stared at him in shock. Finally one flew to the castle. A while later seven guards walked out of the gate. They surrounded him three on either side and escorted him to the castle. The seventh stayed behind at the gates. The guards led him down into the dungeon. He stepped into the cell and stood calmly in the center of the cell. "Just like the Wraith..." He heard one of the guards mutter nervously.  
**1:00**  
Rainbow Dash walked into the square and found a large group of ponies standing in front of a gallows. They were chatting excitedly. "Excuse me, what's going on here?" She asked angrily. A pony who was obviously a servant turned to speak with her. The nobles refused to even look at her. "The one eyed thief turned himself in! He requested his execution to be at one thirty today!" He said excitedly.  
She looked around the crowd for Silver. 'Did he want me to come so he could prove he wasn't the thief? Why did he write that he loved me?' She wandered to the front of the crowd. She waited until the clock struck one thirty. A group of six guards, three on either side, led a pony in a heavy cloth outfit to the gallows. Feather Pen walked up onto the platform with a pony in a black mask following him.  
Feather Pen spoke. "A thief has turned himself in. His crime? Grand theft. His punishment? Death." She said. Rainbow started to become nervous. 'Where the buck is Silver?' The pony in the heavy cloth outfit walked forward. There was a collective boo from the crowd at him. Feather silenced them. "Do you have any last requests?" The pony looked around the crowd and stopped when he spotted Rainbow Dash. He reached into his cloak and produced a small golden locket. Rainbow Dash stared at the locket in horror. "Silver?" She whispered. He yanked it off his neck and threw it to her. She caught it and opened the locket. Inside was a picture of her and Silver. Both smiling and facing opposit diredtions.  
Silver walked back to the rope and pulled it down around his neck. The executioner shifted from side to side nervously. Feather Pen looked at Rainbow Dash critically then turned to the executioner. "NO! WAIT!" Rainbow cried out. She lunged forward but two guards caught her. The crowd started to cheer. "I LOVE YOU TOO!" She yelled. Her shout was drowned by the crowd. Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled to get past the guards. The executioner pulled the lever.  
Time seemed to slow down as Rainbow watched Silver. The trap door below him opened and he began to fall. Silver shut his eyes and raised his head before he fell. The rope stretched and bounced back up a little. His body swung back and forth slowly. Rainbow stopped moving and stared at his corpse. Her mouth wide open. Tears started rolling down her face. "SILVER!" She yelled in anguish.  
**Later that day**  
Rainbow walked out of the castle with her head hung down and dragging her hoofs. Her wings were hanging at her side also dragging across the ground. Feather had questioned her about the locket and when it was decided that it wasn't stolen she was allowed to leave. She sniffed and continued walking down the road slowly. She passed Twilight on her way to the train station. "Rainbow! What happened?!" She asked alarmed. Rainbow looked up at her sadly and shook her head. She continued walking past Twilight. "R-Rainbow?" Rainbow didn't look back.


	9. Chapter 9 the wedding

The undertaker examined Silver's corpse. "Uh... Well he never said he wanted to be buried in these clothes..." He took a knife and was about to cut off the garb when a small light flew in through the window. It hovered above the corpse then slowly fell onto the corpse's exposed neck. The undertaker watched with fascination. The light brightened and spread out. The light died down and there on the corpse's neck was a necklace. the center was a carved diamond in the shape of a mask. The undertaker was about to touch it when he heard a loud pop. The thief's neck shifted slightly and his chest began to rise and fall. His eyes fluttered open and he looked around the room. "Wha- what?" He sat up and looked around the room  
His eyes fell on the undertaker. "Where am I?" He asked. He became aware of something hanging around his neck. He touched it gingerly. Then pulled it up over his head. He examined the necklace. The undertaker stared at him for a while. "ZOMBIE!" He yelled terrified. He ran from the room in panic.  
Silver looked around the room. "But... I was dead! I died!" He exclaimed. He pulled off his clothing and looked around for a door. He saw the open window and cautiously crawled out. His necklace sparkled in the sunlight. He out it around his neck and walked out of the alleyway. Princess Celestia was walking past the Alley when he emerged. They bumped into each other. Silver let out a startled yelp and looked at the Princess Terrified. He noticed she was staring at his necklace. "Tell me, my little pony, where did you get that necklace?" She asked.  
**Ponyville**  
Rainbow slowly walked to the door when she heard somepony knocking. She opened the door to reveal Fluttershy. "Rainbow! The Princess wanted to speak with us, the others are already on their way to the castle!" Rainbow blinked a couple of times. "Uh, ok..." They flew away from the house toward Canterlot. They landed on the front steps and rushed inside. They entered the thrown room and found the others already there. They stopped next to their friends and waited for the Princess to speak. "Well. Now that you're all here I have good news. One of the elements has been found!" She said. They gasped. "Where was it!?" Twilight asked excitedly. The Princess turned her head to a side door. "Silver. You may come in now." Rainbow stared at the door. "Silver?" She asked.  
Silver walked into the room hesitantly. The element hanging around his neck. "Silver awoke in the morgue with this around his neck." he Princess explained. He smiled nervously at Rainbow Dash. "You idiot!" She yelled at him. Everypony jumped at her outburst. They watched as she walked over to a flinching Silver and slapped him. "Why did you do that! You could have died!" She yelled at him. He looked at the ground. "I uh... did die actually..." He said. She glared at him for a while and then hugged him fiercely. He jumped in surprise. Everypony else watched in surprise as well. "I love you too." She whispered. A tear rolled down her cheek. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. "Wait, what?" Twilight asked in utter confusion. "What's going on?!"  
**A few months later**  
A knock at the door caused Twilight to jump. Hawkeye laughed, "Why are you so jumpy?" He asked. Twilight rolled her eyes and answered the door. Standing outside was Rainbow Dash. She handed Twilight an invitation. "Hey Twilight, do you think you could come to my wedding?" She asked. Twilight looked at her with wide eyes. "Your wedding? Not somepony's you know but yours?" Rainbow tilted her head to the side. "Yeah, mine. What's so hard to believe about that?" She asked. Hawkeye walked up behind Twilight and read the invitation. He burst out laughing. "Hey Twilight! Remember that conversation we had the other day?" Twilight stiffened. "Y-yes..." She said. "Looks like it happened! You promised, remember?" She nodded her head slowly. Rainbow looked at them confused. "So... can you come or not." Twilight nodded. "Yes..." She went back inside and Hawkeye followed happily. Rainbow was about to fly off when she heard a grunt. She stopped and listened. The grunting got louder and then she heard Twilight moan. The door opened to reveal Twilight with a large green pack on her back. Hawkeye walked out with a similar pack. "These things are heavy!" She moaned. Hawkeye laughed. "You'll get used to it." Rainbow looked at them like they were crazy. "Wanna tell me what's going on here?" She asked.  
Hawkeye nodded. "The other day I asked Twilight if she would consider military training." He grinned broadly. Twilight shifted the pack and almost fell over. "Jeeze! Did you fill these with rocks?" She asked. "Only a couple." Hawkeye replied. He turned back to rainbow. "Anyway, she told me and I quote, 'I will go through military training when Rainbow Dash gets married.' I made her promise." He said. Twilight shifted the pack again and this time did fall over. "Ow! I'm going to get you back for this Hawkeye!" She said. Hawkeye laughed. "I await it with anticipation!" He helped her back up onto her feet and they walked away.  
Rainbow shook her head and flew to Rarity's. She delivered the rest of the invitations getting surprised looks from everypony. "Why is it so difficult to believe I'm getting married?" She asked out loud.  
The next day she returned to Rarity's to get a dress. She knocked on the front door. It opened a moment later to reveal Steam. "Hello Rainbow Dash. Rarity is not here right now. Would you like me to tell her what you have to say?" He asked. She nodded. "Tell Rarity I need a dress for my wedding. Steam nodded. "Would you like to come in for a while?" He asked. She shook her head and walked away. Steam shrugged and closed the door.  
Rainbow bumped into Pinkie on her way to the train station. She was bouncing along happily next to the Pyrotechnition from Blue Blood's party. "Uh, hi Pinkie. Who's this?" She asked. Pinkie stopped. "This is Gear! You remember him from the party, I mean why wouldn't you? He's too cute not to notice!" She quickly looked at Gear's face. "Really?! Nothing?!" She exclaimed. He shrugged without any expression. "Um... ok then?" Rainbow shook her head in confusion. "I should get going..." She said. Pinkie nodded her head. Okey Dokey Loki! I'll see you at the wedding!" She pranced off happily. Gear looked at the ground for a bit. "Cute..." He said. He shook his head and walked away. Rainbow Dash watched the two for a while then continued on her way.  
**The wedding**  
Silver stood in front of Princess Celestia with Platter on his left. The front row was composed of Autumn, Green, and Char. He smiled at them nervously and went back to staring at the door. Twilight and Hawkeye sat in the row to his right. Twilight's hair was shaved militaristicly and she looked worn out. Hawkeye was siting next to her watching her worried. Behind them was Applejack, Maelstrom, and Johnathan. Behind them was Rarity, Steam, and Golden necklace. Behind his employees sat Fluttershy with Quick Shot and Lily. Behind them sat Pinkie and Gear. Gear stared straight ahead with absolutely no emotion on his face. The door opened to reveal Rainbow Dash. She was wearing an elegant white flowing dress. Behind her were Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, and Apple Bloom. They carried the train of her dress as she walked toward the alter. She stopped next to Silver and the ceremony proceeded.  
**I'm much too lazy to search what is said at a wedding so I'm just going to skip ahead to the I do's, mmkay?**  
"Rainbow Dash, do you take Silver Mask to be your husband?" Princess Celestia asked. Rainbow smiled at Silver. "I do." She said. The Princess turned to Silver. "Silver Mask, do you take Rainbow Dash to be your wife?" Silver nodded. "I do." The Princess nodded. "I now pronounce you Mare and Colt." Everypony in the room cheered as Rainbow and Silver kissed. Pinkie cried loudly and streams of tears shot from her eyes. One waterfall landed directly on top of Gear. He shuddered but showed no emotion as the tears drenched him.  
The two ponies walked down the isle to the door. Rainbow turned and tossed the wedding bouquet. Pinkie leaped into the air and caught it. She landed next to Gear and looked at him evilly. He leaned away from her and gulped audibly. Everypony left the room for cake and the party.  
Fate, Life, Death, Decision, and Free Will appeared on the alter once everypony had left. "Oh that was beautiful!" Free Will exclaimed. Death rolled his eyes. "It's moments like this that I am almost happy that I control the fate of the universe." Fate said. Decision nodded. "They look happy together." Life nodded his head and smiled. "Are you sure we can't allow them to have a child?" He asked. Fate laughed. "Sorry Life." Death sighed. "Once you ninnies are done congratulating yourselves there is still work to be done... So much fuckin' work..." Fate nodded and they all teleported away.


End file.
